


Seeing Ghosts

by MiladyDragon



Series: Dragon-Verse Series One [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragon-Verse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 08:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/428996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiladyDragon/pseuds/MiladyDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda for "Ghost Machine".  Toshiko has a talk with Jack after everyone has left the Hub for the evening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seeing Ghosts

_**16 September 2007** _

"Jack, can I talk to you for a second?"

Jack glanced up from his work to see Toshiko standing in the doorway, looking a bit unsure of herself. "Sure, Tosh," he invited her in. "I thought everyone had gone for the night."

"Just me left," she answered, taking the seat opposite Jack.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, leaning back in his chair and regarding his tech expert.

"I…wanted to speak to you about something."

"About what happened today?" That made sense, after the events with what everyone seemed to be calling the Ghost Machine. It was certainly easier than saying Quantum Transducer.

"In a way, yes." Toshiko took a deep breath. "But it's actually been going on for days now, and I really wanted to know why."

"What is it?" Jack was curious.

She was quiet for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts. Then she looked Jack straight in the eye. "I'd like to know why you're sidelining Ianto in favor of Gwen."

Jack stifled his sigh. He should have known either Tosh or Owen would be bringing the dragon up. "I just think Gwen needs training – "

"No, Jack. That doesn't wash." Toshiko's face went grim. "When you brought me and Owen in, you and Ianto trained us in the Hub before you ever let us out in the field. We had to know Torchwood procedures, weapons, the mainframe…all of it. And then, either you or Ianto accompanied us out in the field to evaluate our performance. I still remember you having to retrain Owen on something that he did the first time he was out on his own. You haven't done any of that with Gwen, and you won't let Ianto near her."

Jack wanted to be angry, but Toshiko was right. He hadn't trusted anyone else with Gwen's training. He could rationalize it, saying that she was his hire and that he wanted to make sure she had a full knowledge of what she was getting into. He could also say that he wanted to train her himself, in order to free up the rest of the team for other things.

But he couldn't. Because those reasons weren't true.

In truth, Jack saw something in Gwen that called to him. Usually he'd name it lust, and seduce her. But this was different. She reminded him so much of Rose Tyler, with her stubbornness and feisty attitude, her need to know, and her pure humanity. That was what he truly coveted, and a selfish part of him didn't want to share that, even though he'd ostensibly hired her in order to remind the entire team what they were fighting for.

He'd particularly wanted to remind Ianto.

The dragon had changed since Canary Wharf, becoming withdrawn and developing an almost irrational hatred of humans…or ephemerals, as he called them. He'd seen first-hand the sheer hubris of humanity, and it had damaged him. All Jack wanted was to show him that all humans weren't bad, and that he shouldn't hold the actions of a few against an entire species. He'd hoped Gwen could do that, but so far it had been a failure.

"I did train her on weapons," he answered.

Toshiko snorted. "You call that groping you did training? You didn't do that with any of us. We saw the CCTV, and what you two were doing was practically foreplay. God Jack, if you wanted to bed her, you could have done that without upsetting your team's dynamics over it."

He was insulted by that. "I don't want to bed her, as you so eloquently put it," he snapped. "And I resent the implication that I'd get in the middle of her relationship with her boyfriend."

"Then stop acting like she's the best thing since sliced bread and treat her like you do the rest of the team!" Toshiko exclaimed.

Jack was irritated at being called down on his actions, even if he might actually deserve it. He thought about how his attentions to Gwen might look to the others, and realized how they might be construed. Still, that didn't make this tongue lashing any more palatable.

"She's still new," Jack tried to argue. "She needs someone to show her the ropes."

Toshiko shook her head. "Fine. Show her the ropes, by all means. But don't do it at the expense of the rest of the team."

"I'm trusting that the rest of the team knows what it's doing by now."

"Everyone on this team knows their jobs, Jack," the tech said, and he could tell it was an effort for her to remain calm. "We've been at this for years. But Jack…you can't dismiss one member of that team in order to play hero around a newbie who's on the fast track to getting herself – and maybe others – killed."

Was that what he was doing? Playing hero for Gwen's benefit? And was he really dismissing Ianto in order to do it? "I think you're reading something into this that isn't there. Gwen is a part of this team, even if she's a new part. She needs to be fully integrated, and to do that she needs to know what goes on around her. The best way to do that is to have her out in the field, learning as she goes."

"You need to train her the right way. Show her the job the way you did Owen and me. Let her learn all about Torchwood before letting her accompany us out in the field, where it's really obvious that she doesn't know what she's doing. Let her get settled into the position you intend for her before tossing her into the deep end. Hell, Jack…we don't even know what that position is yet, except for her liaison duties…which, you should know hasn't gone over well with the Cardiff Police. Did you hear the constables who were out at the scene tonight? At least three of them asked after Ianto, and when I told them he wasn't liaising anymore, they weren't very happy about it."

"Sorry, but we're not here to make the local coppers happy." Were even outsiders questioning his decisions now? But then, Jack hadn't realized just what sort of rapport Ianto had built up with the authorities.

"I'm just saying that it would help if we all knew what Gwen was here for. That way, we can make sure she gets what she needs, when she needs it. And I'm not talking about that profiling stuff she tried with Carys Fletcher, because even though she'd had all that information on her, it was still me who found out where the sex gas alien had eventually ended up. And, why you seen determined to put her in Ianto's place."

"I haven't put anyone in Ianto's place," he answered, avoiding the question of Gwen's duties.

"Then why does she think she has authority over your own Second?"

Jack barely hid the flinch. He'd promised Ianto that he'd make Gwen aware that the dragon was his SIC, and he hadn't done that yet. He made a mental note to do that in the morning. "Why do you say she thinks she's Ianto's boss?"

"She doesn't think she's his boss, per se. But she does order him to get her things, even when he's busy with other projects. Just yesterday, she practically demanded that he make her a coffee when he was helping me with my translation program. When he pointed out that he was in the middle of coding with me and couldn't stop, she acted like what he was doing wasn't important. He finally told her that she wasn't his boss, and in fact that he was _her_ superior, and she went away. I'm really surprised she hasn't come tattling to you yet."

He hadn't heard anything about that, and it bothered him. A small part of his reasoning behind hiring Gwen was that Ianto would need a Second when Jack left with the Doctor, and he'd hoped to have her ready for that time. However, he didn't want to tell anyone else that, because he didn't want them to know about it and that he didn't think anyone would understand him passing up either Owen or Tosh for promotion. Jack simply thought Gwen had what it took to become a leader; while the other two were more specialist in their duties. Besides, Owen was too abrasive and headstrong to make a good leader; and Tosh was quieter and Jack knew she preferred to stay behind the scenes.

But, if Gwen and Ianto weren't getting along…well, he already knew Ianto didn't like her, and didn't agree with her hiring. Jack was going to have to do some serious damage control if he was going to salvage this mess.

"Look, Tosh," he sighed. "I know you don't believe me, but Gwen isn't here to take Ianto's place. In fact, I was hoping she could help him with some of the things he does around here, since he does more than all of us combined. If I've gone about that the wrong way, then I apologize."

"It's not me you have to apologize to, Jack. I really think we're about to lose Ianto over this. He's the best you have, and you've completely disregarded him in favor of Gwen. You need to make this up to him."

Something painful lurched in Jack's chest. Lose Ianto? The very idea made him almost sick. He could never say it, but he'd come to rely on the dragon's quiet strength in the years they'd been at Torchwood together. Hell, they wouldn't have gotten as far as they had without Ianto.

The Tarot girl had been right: Ianto Jones was the soul of Torchwood.

But Gwen Cooper could very well be its heart.

Jack had to decide which one was more important, and he couldn't.

"Look," he said, "I'll set Gwen straight about Ianto's duties in the morning."

Tosh looked relieved. "Good. Because, if it came down to following Gwen, or Ianto…Owen and I already know who that's going to be. Ianto has our complete loyalty. Gwen hasn't earned that yet. Who knows…she might some day. But it's too soon." Her face went serious again. "And that still doesn't address the fact that, since Gwen started, Ianto's been practically confined to the Hub. He hasn't been out on any sort of retrieval or mission, and yet he's the most experienced of us all, besides you. I know Owen and I would feel better if he was watching our backs."

"What about me?" Jack asked, trying to lighten the situation. "I'm not exactly chopped liver, you know."

"I know that. But, no offence…it's just that Ianto's practically unkillable. He won't be stopped if any of us are in danger. That's the kind of back-up we need, Jack. After all, the rest of us can die. He can't. And he'll protect us no matter what."

Jack opened his mouth to rebut that, but realized he couldn't. Tosh was right. Ianto wouldn't let any injury stop him from coming to the defense of a teammate.

The irony there was that Jack was the same…he just hadn't told anyone about his inability to stay dead. Tosh was including him in the mortal category, and Jack found himself feeling somewhat insulted, even if it was his own fault.

"Ianto has made it clear that he doesn't want Gwen to know he's not human," Jack answered. "I'm just trying to save him from a situation where she finds out."

Tosh wasn't sold. "Suzie didn't know either, and Ianto was always out in the field with her. Put him back in the field rotation, Jack. Please. We trust him and he knows what he's doing." It looked like she wanted to say something else, but remained silent.

Jack knew what it was, however. She wanted an answer as to why he'd taken Ianto out of the field.

The problem was, Jack wasn't sure why, either. As a punishment, maybe? For his questioning of Jack's bringing Gwen in? Or maybe it was something else…

He knew, of course, that if he let Ianto get too close, that he could very easily fall for the dragon. After all, he'd been fighting the attraction for years; and several times he'd failed, and had ended up taking Ianto into his bed. Who else knows what it's like to live on, while all those around you die? He knew he should be relying on Ianto, that despite Gwen's humanity that she'd never understand what Jack's apparent immortality did to him.

But Ianto could. And that was frightening, because if Jack ever let himself get all that close then he could very easily give up his quest for the Doctor.

No, Jack couldn't do that. He couldn't give up over a hundred years of waiting, just because of a dragon. Pushing Ianto away would be for the best.

"All right," he gave in. Despite his small feeling of betrayal at Ianto's resistance of accepting Gwen, he knew the right thing would be to put the dragon back out into the field. "You have a point, Tosh. It's a waste to have Ianto staying in the Hub and out of the field." He held up his hand to keep Tosh from saying anything else. "I'll take your other points under advisement, but accept that Gwen is here to stay. She offers something to this team that we've lacked, and she does have skills we can use."

Tosh sighed. "You mean this humanity thing you're hooked on?" She stood. "Tell me this, Jack…if we're all lacking in humanity, then why are we fighting for it? If we didn't care, we wouldn't be here. And, despite his denials, Ianto Jones is the most human of us all." She didn't give him time to answer, leaving the office and heading toward her desk to collect her things.

Jack watched her leave.


End file.
